Austria's Conchita Wurst wins Eurovision

Performing in a skintight dress with long hair and a full beard, Wurst scored 290 points to become Austria’s first Eurovision winner since 1966. Read this article from CNN.com and talk about it with our teachers!

Conchita Wurst, the onstage drag persona of Thomas Neuwirth, was the runaway winner for a performance of the ballad “Rise Like A Phoenix.”

Wurst also refers to himself as “the bearded lady,” he says on his website. In his private life, he calls himself “Tom” and refers to himself as “he.”

In the role of Conchita Wurst, who Neuwirth calls an “art figure,” the artist refers to “herself” as “she.”

Neuwirth created Wurst — which in German means sausage but can also mean ‘who cares?’ — in his teen years to cope with feeling discriminated against.

skintight (adj) fitting very closely to the body
runaway (adj) happening very easily or quickly, and not able to be controlled
drag (n) clothes that are usually worn by the opposite sex (usually women’s clothes worn by men)
sausage (n) a food that consists of a tube of skin containing very small pieces of meat mixed with spices
to cope (v) to deal successfully with a difficult situation or job